Mick Jagger on "Swingeing" London

The legendary rocker reminisces about the heady early days

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IN FEBRUARY 1967, the police raided the Sussex, England, home of Rolling Stone Keith Richards. With him at the time were Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull (wrapped in a fur rug), and Robert Fraser, the art dealer whose Mayfair gallery was a hub for Swinging London. Richards, Jagger, and Fraser were arrested on drug-related charges. The trial riveted England and became a flash point for the confrontation between establishment principles and those of the rising youth culture. After a judge imposed severe (or "swingeing") sentences, Richard Hamilton—then one of Fraser's artists and closest supporters, and now the subject of an exhibition at London's Tate Modern—created posters and paintings to protest the rulings. Here, Jagger recalls his moment at the center of the storm.

The painting is based on a picture from a newspaper, and I remember the paper said that we were trying to cover our faces. Actually we were trying to wave, but it was quite difficult waving, being handcuffed together. And I think Robert was trying to show the handcuffs. It's hard to tell whether I'm smiling. I'd like to think I am, but it's rather enigmatic.

We were arriving at court in Chichester. There were a lot of people around, between the photographers, well-wishers, and fans—it was quite a big event. It's very funny because journalists couldn't cover any legal proceedings, so all they talked about was the peripherals—the bright green suit I'm wearing, the ties we had on, who showed up to observe.

Being arrested and then taken to court was like a black comedy. It was so comedic in its superficiality and silliness, and yet it had all these undertones of seriousness and hypocrisy and conspiracy. It was funny, it was laughable, it was stupid; it was also nasty and mean and conspiratorial. It was a very, very varied psychological experience.

In England the trial came to represent something more than it really was. It was the Summer of Love, and the trial was seen as a backlash against society. It was the question of, if you're at home, and an Englishman's home is his castle, should you be able to do what you want, if you're not harming anyone? There was endless discussion, and it was seen as a pivotal moment.

I saw Richard just before he died, at a very nice dinner party. We had a chat about how the painting had become this big, rather famous artwork and how long ago it all was. When you look back on it now, you see that it was all a bit naive. What came out of it was that poor Robert was put in jail for quite a long time—I wasn't, and Keith wasn't. We didn't suffer that much, but we gained a lot of notoriety. What came out of it was this rather wonderful picture. As told to Emily Cronin

Swingeing London 67 is featured in the Richard Hamilton exhibition at Tate Modern, February 13 through May 26. Go to Tate.org.uk for more information.